Overachieving Technology

The purpose of this blog is to highlight new technology that is ahead of its time. Technology with purpose and vision. Something that may not necessarily be commonplace or useful now, but may soon be in the future.

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It was only about a century ago that the first successful airplane was invented. Since then, flight technology has been advancing at an incredible pace. I’m sure that many people before that time didn't believe that flying to outer space would be possible. It might not have even been something that ever crossed their minds. Definitely, times have changed. Space flight has been proven to be possible. Humans landed on the moon. Up-close pictures of the surface of Mars were taken.

Despite the continuous improvements in electronic technology every year, many electronic devices remain to have one glaring weakness. They stop functioning once they become wet. There are some devices that are specifically designed to be water-proof, but there aren’t really many of them. For instance, most cellphones and laptops on sale today aren’t designed to withstand against water seeping in to its circuitry and causing damages.

Disclaimer: This post is intended to be a fictional narrative showing the future possibilities brought about by 3D printing. Hope you enjoy it.

It is the year 2023. Only a few people have anticipated the real impact of the 3D revolution. As the early computers became more advanced, they were able to eventually display 3D graphics in their screens. People have embraced the concept ever since. Movies popularized stereoscopic 3D. Movies, shows and games that are in 3D made the experience more visually engaging. All of these advances in 3D technology were landmark achievements but none of them has impacted the world as much as 3D printing would. The things 3D printer allowed Michael to do have threatened the manufacturing industry. It is a threat that is destined to have a lasting effect on the industry.

The human ability and desire to develop ever-smaller material compositions have resulted in yet another milestone. Research engineers from UC Irvine, HRL Laboratories and the California Institute of Technology said that they were able to create a material that they claim is the lightest in the world. Technically, being the lightest means that the material has the smallest mass to volume ratio of anything ever created. In other words, the material has the least weight when compared to the same size of any other material in the world. It is also amazingly sturdy and durable for what is essential a near-weightless material.

Just last week, Google finally revealed details on a project it has been working on in its special research department, “Google[x]”. The project is called Project Glass. The project is not a complete surprise to some because it has been rumored about before and was even featured in a New York Times blog about two months ago. Now it is confirmed and official. The thought of having glasses that can display information and do things that smartphones can is fascinating. These glasses may become one of those concepts that originally sprouted from science fiction stories and eventually ended up in the real world. Of course, the glasses are still a concept as far as we know and the project is still in the development and testing stage. Google itself is encouraging feedback from people in the project’s Google+ page.

Keeping with the theme of technology, I will present a tutorial on how to connect a 3.5 mm stereo plug to a RCA cable. As you may know, cables and wires are vital parts of electronic devices. They allow the flow of electricity and data. In case you have any question about what these two connections are, I will quickly explain them. A 3.5 mm stereo connector is an input plug commonly seen in headphones and speakers. Connecting it to a 3.5 mm port will allow headphones or speakers to function as they do and deliver sound.

Ross Pomeroy from Newton Blog published a post, "The Potential of Thought-Controlled Computing", that talks about the possibilities of being able to control computers with thoughts. A company called InteraXon has been working with the technology since 2007. The thought-controlled functions are achieved by using an electroencephalograph (EEG), which records brain activities. A specialized software is then used to identify the alpha wave frequencies and the beta wave frequencies. Alpha waves correlate with relaxation while beta waves correlate with focus and attentiveness. Computational tasks, like turning an electronic light switch on and off, can be achieved by merely focusing and relaxing. Theoretically, this technology can allow a person’s thoughts to control any appliance or device linked to that person’s head.